Lions to Face Jaspers at Home

Having wrapped up Ivy League play last weekend, the Columbia baseball team will enter the home stretch of its season today with a doubleheader against local rival Manhattan.

Columbia (15-23, 10-10 Ivy) comes into today's games fresh off a successful home stand against Cornell, in which the Lions took three of four games from the Big Red. The wins brought the Light Blue's league record back to .500 and placed the team one game behind Lou Gehrig Division-leader Penn.

The series against Cornell was marked by both solid pitching and stifling defense. After an erratic first inning in game one, where he gave up three runs, junior pitcher Bill Purdy held the Big Red bats to two hits for the remaining six innings. Junior John Baumann followed Purdy's performance with a shutout in game two, earning his fourth win of the season, while Clay Bartlett continued to prove his pitching ability as a rookie Sunday. The freshman allowed only two runs over six innings, bringing his ERA down to 3.89, the team's lowest. The defense continued its near flawless play, even in the one loss on Sunday, committing only one error over the entire series, compared to the Big Red, which had nine.

The Light Blue will need to take the momentum from the strong performance over the weekend and continue it against a powerful Manhattan club. The Jaspers (23-11) have seen success on the diamond throughout the spring, amassing a 14-0 record against Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference opponents. Manhattan has four pitchers on its roster with ERAs under 4.00, and ace Jesse Darcy has compiled a 2.23 ERA in seven games this season. While the Jaspers might have an edge on the mound, both teams perform similar offensively. Like the Lions, the Jaspers have only two players batting above .300 at the moment, with most of their top players only hitting above .250. With such parity at the plate, Columbia will need its defense to overcome any advantage Manhattan may have in pitching.

The Light Blue takes the field in its doubleheader against Manhattan at 1:30 p.m. today at Andy Coakley Field.